Cassie Logan, of the author's Newbery-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, narrates events leading up to a tragic climax on a hot summer Mississippi afternoon in 1933. On an errand to a country store they usually avoid because they know the proprietors are dangerously unfriendly to blacks, the four Logan children are hassled by storekeepers Thurston and Dewberry Wallace, who taunt six-year, old Little-Man for his color, threatening to chop off his hands because they look dirty. The children quickly back away, though they don't take the threat at face value. But when Old Mr. Tom Bee comes by the store and persists in his habit of calling John Wallace by his first name, the threat becomes real. The familiarity is forbidden by custom, but promised in perpetuity by John, whose life Tom saved more than once, with kindness as well as heroism. But the presence of his sons and an unfriendly group of customers forces John to renege on his promise in a harrowing, bitter climax. From its quiet beginning, the tension grows relentlessly in this brief, carefully designed story. The hint of a possible friendship between white Jeremy Simms and the eldest Logan, Stacey; the fine, sturdy character of the Logans; and the indomitable courage of Tom Bee when he decides the time has come to stand up for a principle are the only notes of hope in the somber events. Ginsburg's black-and-white drawings are outstanding, his solid figures masterfully staged to convey the taut drama.
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1987
ISBN: 0803704178
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child—one of Grimes’ best. (Poetry. 8-12)
In this delightfully spare narrative in verse, Coretta Scott King Award–winning Grimes examines a marriage’s end from the perspective of a child.
Set mostly in the wake of her father’s departure, only-child Gabby reveals with moving clarity in these short first-person poems the hardship she faces relocating with her mother and negotiating the further loss of a good friend while trying to adjust to a new school. Gabby has always been something of a dreamer, but when she begins study in her new class, she finds her thoughts straying even more. She admits: “Some words / sit still on the page / holding a story steady. / … / But other words have wings / that wake my daydreams. / They … / tickle my imagination, / and carry my thoughts away.” To illustrate Gabby’s inner wanderings, Grimes’ narrative breaks from the present into episodic bursts of vivid poetic reminiscence. Luckily, Gabby’s new teacher recognizes this inability to focus to be a coping mechanism and devises a daily activity designed to harness daydreaming’s creativity with a remarkably positive result for both Gabby and the entire class. Throughout this finely wrought narrative, Grimes’ free verse is tight, with perfect breaks of line and effortless shifts from reality to dream states and back.
An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child—one of Grimes’ best. (Poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59078-985-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Fluffy, fast, fun reading for fans of Clueless McGee and the Wimpy Kid.
Miles used to live near the sea. Miles had friends. Miles was his school's greatest prankster...how will he survive a move to Yawnee Valley?
Yawnee Valley is famous for one thing: cows. All new students at Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy receive a booklet of 1,346 interesting cow facts from fussbudget fifth-generation principal Barry Barkin. On the first day of school, when Principal Barkin's car is found mysteriously parked on the school's steps, Barkin suspects Miles and assigns Niles Sparks to be Miles' buddy. Miles can't think of anything more awful than spending every moment of every day with smiling, officious, king-of-the-obvious Niles. On top of that, Barkin's son, Josh, has decided Miles is a good bullying target. To make life interesting, Miles plans a perfect prank in his pranking notebook, but it’s foiled. That's followed by an invitation to join forces in pranking from an unexpected source...no way! Let the prank war commence! Barnett and John launch their cow-resplendent illustrated series with the humorous origin story of the pranking duo who lend the series its name. Characters may be stock; however, the pranks are anything but, and it's peppered with cow facts. Cornell’s goofy cartoon illustrations (especially the blasé cows) add giggles aplenty.
Fluffy, fast, fun reading for fans of Clueless McGee and the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1491-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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